


"past me was an idiot" is way better than saying "hindsight is 20/20"

by caimani



Category: Jonas Brothers, Waterparks (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fabulous Killjoys Fusion, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Awsten Knight and Kyle Fletchers are Twins, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-13
Updated: 2020-01-02
Packaged: 2021-01-29 21:55:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21417292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caimani/pseuds/caimani
Summary: “So,” Mom says with thattoneof his. “I heard your boyfriend’s got a new motorcycle.”“Kutie’s not my boyfriend,” Tiktok says immediately.When people realize that they've bitten off more than they can chew, it's good to know they've got family to support them and to make fun of them relentlessly. It's even worse when one family has a telepathic bond and the other isnoisy.
Relationships: Kyle Fletchers/Nick Jonas
Comments: 4
Kudos: 9





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [keithundead](https://archiveofourown.org/users/keithundead/gifts).
  * Inspired by [our heroes are dead](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19259806) by [keithundead](https://archiveofourown.org/users/keithundead/pseuds/keithundead). 

> Nick: Tiktok  
Joe: Danger Zone  
Kevin: Motherboard, but everyone calls him Mom, much to his dismay
> 
> Kyle: Kutie Kerosene  
Awsten: Dust Angel  
Steve: Felony Steve

Mom’s shadow is in his light. 

Tiktok shields his face from the sun with his hand and stares up at his brother with an unimpressed look that’s partially covered by the mask on his lower face. He’s busy. Mom should know better than to bug Tiktok while he’s working in the herb garden. 

At least Mom knows Tiktok well enough that he knows exactly what kind of face he’s making. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have any effect on him. Mom’s never cared about that. At most, he’s pouted about it and then went on to invade Tiktok’s time and space anyway.

“So,” Mom says with that _tone_ of his. “I heard your boyfriend’s got a new motorcycle.”

“Kutie’s not my boyfriend,” Tiktok says immediately. He looks back down at the valerian in front of him. “And I think everyone within a twenty mile radius heard he’s got a new motorcycle.” 

Tiktok heard about it on the radio just that morning, part of the news report along with the predicted patrols. Usually Tiktok ignores that stuff— it’s not like he does anything that would draw Better Living’s attention— but he’d perked up at the mention of Kutie. He was also pretty damn stunned when the news was that he stole a motorcycle of all things. Normally Kutie uses his powers to go for the small but essential stuff. Medicine, cooking ingredients, that kind of thing. 

But a motorcycle… 

“You should try and trade for it,” Mom says. Insistent as always. “He likes you, he’ll give you a discount.”

Tiktok is glad for both the mask and the killer sun now, because his face feels hot. “He’s not going to give a discount on a motorcycle,” he says, ignoring the other thing his brother is talking about. “Especially not a brand new one from Battery City. He’s probably already traded it by now. And we’ve got two mopeds. We’re fine.”

_**“They’re tricked out motorcycles!”**_ Danger’s voice echoes loudly in Tiktok’s mind. Tiktok and Mom both wince. 

“Shut up,” Tiktok says. “Use your inside-the-head voice.”

“Where are you?” Mom says. He finally turns away from Tiktok to look at the house just a short distance away. 

_**”Downstairs.”**_ Danger says. _**”Taking care of the mushrooms. Hey, Tiktok, we’ve got enough that are big enough that you can take them to trade. Get some soap from Kutie’s brother if you’re not going to try for the motorcycle.”**_

“You think he’s going to trade a motorcycle for some mushrooms?” Tiktok says incredulously. He gets to his feet with a groan and brushes the dust off his pants. Well, he gets what he can. Dust is kind of a constant, especially when you’re a farmer in the middle of the desert. 

_**”No, he’s going to maybe trade it for your company,”**_ Danger says.

Tiktok smacks his forehead, wishing he could project something besides words into his brothers’ minds. “Stop suggesting things. I hate you.”

He storms off towards the shed where they keep the mopeds. 

_ **“Where’s he going?”** _

“Take him the good stuff!” Mom says, rushing into the house. “I’ll get it for you.”

Tiktok shudders at the idea of Mom picking out wooing gifts for Kutie. He moves as fast as he can, snapping a helmet onto his head and starting the moped engine. He’s lucky this time— he’s on the rugged dirt path before Mom can come out with whatever he thinks is appropriate to trade for a motorcycle.

A moment later… 

_**“Tiktok!”**_

_ **”What’d he do?”** _

_ **”He left!!!”** _

Tiktok tries his best to tune out the annoyed voices of his brothers echoing telepathically in his head. The noise of the modified engine works well enough. And he’s got his attention focused on the path in front of him anyway. While the moped’s tires have been replaced with sturdier ones that can handle the landscape, it’s still not the best idea to hit a hole and risk damaging the thing. 

The two mopeds aren’t as fast or useful as a car, but they keep them in business and under the radar. 

Kutie on the other hand…

The minutes pass quickly as Tiktok makes the familiar drive to Funkytown, the settlement nestled around one of the few sources of fresh water way out here. The small lake’s water is perpetually brown with sand and mud, but Funkytown’s got a water purification system that works fine most days. It’s a draw for plenty of people who prefer to live without causing trouble. Tiktok and his brothers are content to live on top of an underground stream so tiny that it isn’t useful for much more than farming. They have to make regular trips here to get the other things they need, like clothes, and repairs, and company that isn’t related to them.

Tiktok squints through the harsh sunlight as Kutie’s little shack on the outskirts of Funkytown comes into view. His eyes suddenly go wide.

There’s a _car_ outside the shack.

Tiktok parks the moped closer to the door than usual. He stares at the car in awe and disbelief for a moment, and then pushes through the saloon-style doors that Kutie bartered from someone in exchange for a non-functional clock once.

He freezes. The silly saloon door swings shut behind him with a creak. 

Kutie is leaning against the wall of the shack, his arms crossed defensively. Two killjoys— and those definitely are _actual_ killjoys, brightly dressed ones with rayguns at their hips— are standing in the middle of the shack. All of the shelves and cabinets of things stolen from Battery City seem pale and unimpressive with those two standing there.

But Tiktok’s gaze goes back to Kutie, who looks equally relieved and conflicted to see him. 

“I’ve got a customer,” Kutie says. His lips press shut as he sends a slightly desperate look at Tiktok. 

Tiktok’s vision goes red and he narrows his eyes. “What’s going on, Kerosene?” he says, and resists the urge to walk farther into the shop and shove his shoulder against one or both of the killjoys. 

Seriously, what the fuck is going on here? One of the killjoys sighs and raises their arms in a gesture of surrender.

“Alright, we’re going,” the killjoy says. “But we’ll be back later, Kerosene. Think about it, okay? You don’t have to have an answer right away. But—”

“Bye,” Kutie says. Tiktok would be surprised at the ice in his tone, but he thinks he gets it. At the very least, he understands that these two aren’t exactly welcome in Kutie’s shop.

They walk around Tiktok as they leave. Tiktok briefly entertains the idea of threatening them somehow… but no. There’s several problems with that. One: he doesn’t actually know what they were talking about with Kutie just now. Two: his brothers can telepathically spy on whatever he says— and they’re probably doing it right now. Three: those two killjoys look a bit stronger than him, they have rayguns, and they can easily take Tiktok in a fight. 

Four: he’d rather check on Kutie.

He hurries across the shack to Kutie, who’s slumped against the wall. Kutie’s eyes are closed as he breathes calmly.

“Who were they?” Tiktok asks as the killjoys’ car engine roars. “What did they want?” Belatedly, he catches sight of the motorcycle leaning against the wall beside Kutie. It’s a bright pink now, courtesy of Dust, most likely. 

Kutie shrugs and opens his eyes. He looks tired now, and Tiktok instinctively reaches out to touch his cheek in comfort. Kutie leans into his hand, and then slides off the wall to throw his arms around Tiktok’s shoulders. Tiktok’s free arm goes around Kutie’s waist. To support him, he tells himself, but that reasoning isn’t as strong as the overwhelming joy of just… holding Kutie. He’s taller than Tiktok, but he’s scrawny. He fits perfectly in Tiktok’s arms, especially now that he’s just relaxing in whatever comfort Tiktok brings him.

“Just some idiots trying to collect people with powers for their fuckin’ crusade,” Kutie mutters. “I told them to beat it.”

Tiktok thinks back to the radio report. As far as he knows, it didn’t mention Kutie’s power. But any idiot with half a brain can guess that Kutie’s either a fucking master thief or he’s got some kind of stealth power to be able to steal a motorcycle straight out of Battery City _and_ get it all the way back to Funkytown.

“Did you bring anything good?” Kutie says suddenly, straightening up in Tiktok’s arms. “I need to pay Dust back for something. I’ll give you… uh… you still want that rust cleaner?”

Tiktok lets go of Kutie and immediately misses the feeling of holding him. “Not really,” he says. “I’m kinda avoiding Mom and Idiotzone. And I wanted to—”

_ **“Idiot?!”** _

_ **”Danger no! Now he knows we’re listening!”** _

Tiktok rolls his eyes and continues. “I wanted to… you know, see you. I think the whole desert heard what you did.”

Kutie winces. “Yeah. I, uh. Kinda got reckless. I mean, I was with Felony, so it was alright, but I’m kinda freaking out imagining BLInd’s gonna come smashing down my door. I don’t—”

“I’m sure it’s fine,” Tiktok reassures him. “You said Felony was with you?”

Kutie nods.

Tiktok feels himself relax. Felony is loud and bright and flashy enough to attract everyone’s attention everywhere he goes. Tiktok is certain that, no matter what Kutie had to do to get his hands on the motorcycle, Felony ended up doing something bigger and way more reckless. He’s just that kind of crazy. But beneath that, Tiktok knows there’s some protective big brother instinct in Felony that keeps him looking out for his sneaky little brother whenever they run off together.

Kutie steps away from Tiktok, towards the motorcycle. “I don’t know what I’m going to do with this,” he says. “I let them talk about it so I’d get someone interested in trading for it. But instead, I got… those guys.”

Tiktok looks over his shoulder at where the killjoys’ car was parked only minutes ago. He thinks fast.

“You wanna get out of here?”

Shit, that came out… not how he wanted to say it.

Kutie blinks at him in surprise. “Yeah?” he says. “Uh. Where?”

“Just…” Tiktok shrugs. “Anywhere. Nowhere.”

As long as it’s with you. As long as it’s keeping you away from those killjoys.

Kutie’s surprise morphs into his adorable little smile. Tiktok melts inside. He’s so gone for this guy. “Yeah,” Kutie says, sounding more sure of himself. “Take me wherever you want, Tik.”

Before Tiktok can embarrass himself— or say something that his brothers will laugh at— he manages to turn and walk with Kutie out of the shop. He gets back on the moped and Kutie sits down right behind him. There’s not an inch of space between as Kutie leans forward, chest pressed against Tiktok’s back. His arms go around Tiktok’s waist, holding on securely. 

“Hang on,” Tiktok says, like he always does.

“Promise I won’t let go,” Kutie says back. Like he always does.

Tiktok’s smile is covered by the mask, but he knows that Kutie knows it’s there.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> do I know what Im doing? nope. idk what this story is gonna be. but it aint gonna be angst thats for sure

Funkytown isn’t a terribly big place, even by Zone standards. Homes and buildings surround the whole lake, but they’re spread out enough to give the residents a fair amount of privacy. There is a slightly larger cluster of people settled near the stone building that houses the water treatment mechanics. That includes a number of repair shops, a fuel station, a general market, and a diner. There’s even a small library, although most of the books inside have been put together by people out in the Zones, either original stories or old ones from memory. 

Kutie once showed Tiktok some of the stuff that passes for literature in Battery City that he’d swiped on a whim before. It’s nightmarish. 

But anyway, the limitations of the town and the fact that Tiktok only has a moped with a tiny gas tank means that Tiktok has to stop to refuel before he can actually take Kutie anywhere fun. 

The excitement of the impromptu date is unfortunately dampened by the sight of the killjoys’ car at the fuel station. Tiktok comes to a stop far enough away that the killjoys don’t see him and Kutie. Their backs are turned, but he doesn’t want to take any chances.

“Fuck,” Kutie grumbles. “I thought they’d be gone. Like... out of Funkytown.”

Tiktok reaches back to put his hand over Kutie’s. The skin contact makes his heart jump for a second, and then he can feel Kutie relax a little.

“I’ll get gas,” Tiktok says. “You, uh…” He glances from side to side to remind himself of what’s around them. Nothing that really catches his interest. 

“I’m gonna go tell Dust to keep an eye on the motorcycle while I’m gone,” Kutie says, sliding off the moped. “I’ll be at his place when you’re done.”

Dust’s place… So there’s a high chance that Dust is going to see the two of them and know they’re on a date. That’s another mood killer. Tiktok tries to bury the memory of the last time Dust decided to intrude on his twin’s romantic life and fails. The aftermath especially… 

At least that’s kind of a funny memory now. 

Tiktok waits until Kutie is gone, and then drives the rest of the way to the fuel station. The killjoys are just loitering at the pump, flipping through a battered magazine and talking to each other. One of them is smoking. _Smoking._ Right next to the pump. Tiktok is split between shock and annoyance at how arrogant and thoughtless they are. 

Maybe one of them has a power that keeps them from getting blown up. Unlikely. He got the impression back at Kutie’s place that they just don’t care.

Tiktok pushes his moped close enough that he’ll be able to reach with the nozzle but as far from the killjoys as he can possibly get. It’s still too close for his liking. 

“He’ll warm up to it,” one of them says, and it’s a shame that the radio seems to be off for the moment. Tiktok would give anything to not hear these two killjoys. 

“He’d better,” the other says, exhaling a heavy cloud of smoke that makes Tiktok want to punch him. “We need a stealth guy. Or some kind of early warning powers, since those fuckin’ Dracs keep raiding.”

“I fucking know,” the first killjoy says. “Kerosene’s our best bet in this shit town. Since Felony’s impossible to get ahold of.” 

Tiktok’s arm twitches. Damn it.

The first killjoy suddenly drops his magazine and doubles over, coughing. The second drops his cigarette to check on him, and it almost falls on the magazine. Tiktok turns his face away quickly, to keep them from seeing the satisfied smile on his face.

“What’s wrong?” the second guy says.

“Someone fucking punched me,” the first guy wheezes. 

Tiktok really needs to stop smiling, but he can’t. It’s so satisfying. The random bursts of telekinesis are a pain sometimes, but in moments like this, it’s worth all the accidental messes and shoves. 

“Hey! Bastard! Was that you?”

Whoops.

Tiktok whirls around just in time for the killjoy to grab his shirt and slam him roughly against the pump.

“Be careful with the—” Tiktok starts, but he’s quickly interrupted.

“The fuck did you do?” the killjoy growls. “You got a power?”

_Not much of one,_ Tiktok thinks. He doesn’t respond. No need to get his brothers’ attention by getting into a verbal fight. Then again, he really wants to give these killjoys a reason to get the hell out of Funkytown. He opens his mouth and says something terrible and lame.

“Leave Kutie alone.”

_ **”Tik? What’s going on?”** _

_ **”Are you okay? What’s going on with Kutie?”** _

_ **”It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.”** _

_ **”Somehow… I don’t believe you.”** _

The killjoy looks even more enraged at first. Then his expression twists. “Kutie?” he repeats. “Why? He your boyfriend?”

Tiktok’s cheeks go hot and the killjoy laughs. The other killjoy has gotten back up by now, rubbing his abdomen where Tiktok’s wild telekinetic force must have hit him. 

“That’s fucking precious,” the killjoy hoots. “Listen, man, your _Kutie_ is a big boy who can make his own decisions. He calls enough attention to himself going on his little raids. He should seriously think about making some friends who can watch his back. And, sorry, but I doubt _you_ can do that.”

Tiktok doesn’t need his random telekinesis this time. He swings and hits the guy in the cheek so fast that he doesn’t even realize what he’s doing until the killjoy responds with a knee to Tiktok’s stomach. Tiktok doubles over, but a second later, he retaliates with an elbow to the killjoy’s solar plexus. 

The killjoy stumbles back. 

The second killjoy hums in consideration. “Alright, maybe you’re not so pathetic, whoever you are. But tell your boyfriend about what we said. Everyone thinks BLInd doesn’t care until they send their Dracs to your front door. Keep that in mind. Come on, man, let’s get outta here.”

The first killjoy tries to swing at Tiktok again, but Tiktok dodges out of the way and kicks high at him. He misses, but the message gets across.

“Fuck you,” the killjoy hisses. “See if we ever give a shit about this little shithole town.”

“Good riddance,” Tiktok says. 

The killjoy flips him off as the other one drags him back into their car. They take off, with a light cloud of sand and dust following after them. 

Tiktok glares at their retreating car. When it’s finally out of sight, he turns to go back to fueling his moped. But he also notices that they left the magazine on the ground. He stoops down to pick it up.

It’s something published by Better Living, he notices right away. It’s clean and detached and full of so much blatant and subliminal propaganda that Tiktok gets the immediate urge to throw it away somewhere. It’s sickening. It’s garbage. But Tiktok has no intention of littering, so he just rolls it up and stuffs it in his back pocket.

He’ll get rid of it later. Maybe he can shred it and use it to make some new mulch.


	3. Chapter 3

The reappearance of a smiling Kutie is almost enough to shrug off Tiktok’s frustration over the two killjoys. 

Almost. 

His back kinda stings from where that one killjoy shoved him. And he’s still annoyed at how they were so goddamn full of themselves. How they felt entitled to Kutie and his power, despite not knowing a damn thing about him. 

“Ready?” Kutie says. There’s a bounce in his step and that eases the rest of the tension that Tiktok is still feeling.

“Yeah,” he says, sliding onto the moped, leaving enough room on the back for Kutie to sit behind him. His heart jumps a little in his chest when Kutie puts his arms around his middle again. Enjoying the feeling— and not wanting it to be ruined by dawdling long enough for Dust to run out of his place and start teasing them— he takes off. 

The engine of the moped isn’t so loud that they can’t talk, but their ride out of Funkytown is quiet anyway. Kutie clings to him tighter when Tiktok goes over a considerable bump in the dirt road, but he doesn’t comment or complain about it. Tiktok doesn’t have much of a destination in mind. He drives for a few minutes, letting his mind drift as he stares ahead at the desert scenery before him.

There’s not a whole lot out here. As far as landmarks or scenic attractions go, the closest thing (besides the lake, some bluffs and big rocks, and an old abandoned mine) is a cactus ‘forest’. At least five square acres of cacti of all shapes and sizes and colors. It’s only half natural; sometime in the past decade or two, someone with a power made it for some reason and then left it behind. There’s also a canyon farther out, but Tiktok never really drives out that far.

Tiktok pulls up to the edge of the cactus forest and leaves the moped against a nearby boulder. Kutie’s already walking into the forest, along a narrow beaten path between the prickly desert plants. 

“Felony asked how you were doing,” Kutie says. “When we were stealing the motorcycle.”

Tiktok freezes. “D-did he?” he says, cursing inwardly at the stutter. “What did he say?”

Kutie looks back with a small laugh. “He’s not mad at you anymore, you know. He’s warmed up to you a lot.”

Tiktok can remember all too well just about every single encounter with Felony. The first one— well, the first one after he found out Tiktok was sort of romantically interested in his little brother— involved Felony breaking down their door and telling him to keep his hands and other body parts where they belonged. Compared to the most recent one, where Felony just glared intensely at Tiktok for an hour while Tiktok and Kutie worked together to fix a solar panel… okay, Tiktok can see it. Rather than wanting Tiktok to stay away from Kutie, he’s probably resigned and wants instead to keep a close eye on him.

Even though Tiktok has promised him a million times that he’s not trying to play with Kutie’s feelings. He cares. He wants to win Kutie’s heart. He’s just an awkward nervous mess and he’s scared of messing things up somehow.

“He said you should invite us over,” Kutie says. “Me and Dust and him.” He turns back and continues walking in between the cacti.

“Both him _and_ Dust?” Tiktok groans. 

“Why not?” Kutie says. “Dust likes your brother. He refuses to admit it though. Forcing them to be in the same room together might finally get him to shut up and forget about making fun of us.”

Tiktok nearly walks straight into a cactus. “Wait? Dust? He likes my— Which brother?”

“Danger.”

Tiktok’s mouth drops open. He tries to picture it. Oh it’s terrible. Dust and Danger. Oh no.

Kutie snorts. “Yeah. You think Felony would try and scare off Danger too?”

Tiktok’s brain is still struggling to comprehend his middle brother and Kutie’s twin. It’s so bizarre. And horrifying. They’d bring out the worst of each other. They’re both so chaotic.

Kutie sighs and sits down on a flat boulder up ahead. As Tiktok catches up with him, he squints at— Kutie’s holding something. The magazine from earlier.

“Where’d you get this?” Kutie says, flipping through the pages. 

Tiktok sits down next to him and looks at the contents over his shoulder. “Those killjoys left it.”

“Hm.”

“They left town,” Tiktok says, trying to sound optimistic. “They might not come back.”

Kutie gives him a skeptical look. “Did they talk to you? About me?”

Tiktok hesitates. Kutie frowns and looks back at the magazine. He hesitates at a series of wanted posters towards the end. Nobody that Tiktok can recognize, thankfully. Not even Felony. 

“I don’t want to be a killjoy,” Kutie whispers. “The raids with Felony are different. We’re just— we’re not attacking BLInd. We’re just… getting what we need. Surviving. Helping people. I just want to— I don’t want to end up here.” Kutie’s fingertips linger over the printed face of a killjoy wearing a green mask and a defiant smirk. There’s a giant X across the picture.

Tiktok leans against him comfortingly. “You won’t.”

Kutie is quiet. Tiktok feels bad for a moment, and then reaches out to close the magazine. “When does Felony want to have a family dinner?” he says.

“I don’t know. He’ll be back in a few days, I think,” Kutie says. He lets Tiktok take the magazine back. Tiktok forcibly folds it up and sticks it back in his back pocket. That thing really needs to get turned into mulch. 

Tiktok thinks fast. He needs to… do something. Kutie’s still sitting on the other half of the rock, staring off into the forest of cacti around them. Tiktok’s hand goes back to Kutie’s empty hand. He takes it, a familiar move. Holding hands. They do that. Gently, he guides it back. He lowers his head and softly presses his lips to the back of Kutie’s hand.

Kutie looks back at him immediately. Tiktok freezes, but he doesn’t drop Kutie’s hand. Kutie’s face is open and surprised, and Tiktok isn’t sure what kind of face he himself is making. He holds Kutie’s hand a little tighter, and then finally lowers their joined hands.

“Tell Dust last minute,” he says.

“What?” Kutie says, blinking a few times.

“Dinner. As soon as Felony gets back, tell me so I can get things ready on my end. And then just bring them over. Dust won’t know what’s going on until there’s nothing he can do about it.”

Kutie’s face morphs into a wicked grin. “Oh… that’s so evil. It’s perfect.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love this fic its just so fun

Kutie would very much like to date Tiktok. It feels like they’ve been building up for that kind of thing ever since he and Dust sort-of-officially moved in to Funkytown. Not that it started right away, _obviously_ they had to meet and start talking and hanging out, but— 

Anyway.

He’s interested. And Tiktok isn’t exactly the most subtle person with his own signals; he’s definitely interested too. Half the town probably thinks they’re already together, and Steve is only ‘against it’ for his own Steve-reasons. Big brother reasons. Whatever. Basically, he and Tiktok are almost together, but it’s not official. 

But Kutie’s not sure he wants to drag Tiktok into all his killjoy-related bullshit. That altercation earlier was more than Tiktok needed to deal with. Tiktok’s a peaceful farmer, and he’s happy being a farmer.

He deserves to be safe.

So with all of that in mind, Kutie separates their hands. He leans against Tiktok’s side, but he keeps his face turned away, as if he could be more interested in a cactus forest than Tiktok. Despite that— and despite the silence that’s fallen between the two of them— Tiktok leans closer and puts an arm around Kutie’s waist. Like he would do if they were on the moped.

Briefly, Kutie imagines riding with Tiktok on the motorcycle. The same feeling, but closer, faster, more adrenaline and wind pulling at his body. 

“I need to get rid of that motorcycle,” he says abruptly.

Tiktok shifts beside him. “Someone will come and trade for it soon—”

“No,” Kutie says. He wriggles himself out of Tiktok’s grasp and slides off the rock to start pacing around in the sand. He’s been doing a lot of thinking— and regretting— ever since he realized that he actually stole a whole motorcycle. Back in the city, it was a dumb idea and he should have listened to Steve when he said it wasn’t a good idea. And now…

“Do you want it?” he says. 

Fuck. That’s not what he meant to say.

Tiktok looks a little confused and maybe a little concerned. Double fuck.

“I mean,” he says quickly. “I think— I know I need to get rid of it. I thought some killjoy out there would want it, but who am I kidding, killjoys don’t have anything good to trade. I just need to get it off my hands. And I need to lay low or something, otherwise—”

“Kutie, I think you might be panicking,” Tiktok says carefully. “Don’t worry about the motorcycle. It’s okay. You worked hard to get it here, and you’ll get something good for it.”

Impossible not to worry. Kutie rubs at his face. He didn’t really work all that hard to get it anyway: he was on a pretty normal little raid with Steve, he saw a nice little motorcycle sitting alone, and he had the thing on the back of Steve’s pickup in minutes. It’s not that hard to steal things when he has the power to erase any noises around him.

“If you want to get it out of your shop, we can keep it at my place?” Tiktok suggests. 

Kutie makes a strangled noise. “You don’t have to—”

“Mom wanted to see it anyway,” Tiktok says. He’s about to say something else, but then his face falls. “Oh, he’s listening in now. Fuck off, Mother-Boring. Yeah, I _did_ just call you that. Stop laughing, Danger, you’re not off the hook either. Shut up.”

Kutie’s lips curl into a smile. It’s always funny seeing this, Tiktok dealing with the telepathic bond. Mostly getting annoyed at his brothers adding their input on whatever Tiktok is saying or doing. Kutie would hate to have something like that with his siblings, but it seems fairly benign in Tiktok’s case. 

“How about we trade for a little while?” Kutie suggests. “You take the motorcycle back, and I’ll hang onto your moped… if you’re okay with that?”

Tiktok winces. “Sorry,” he says after a second. “Mom’s going nuts. Yeah, that’s cool. But you’re still going to be waiting for someone to come by, right?”

Kutie shrugs. Maybe. Maybe he’ll end up taking the thing apart for scrap. It doesn’t really matter. The engine is good, but it can be repurposed for something more useful than a speedy little vehicle. 

“Do you want to switch it now?” Kutie says.

Tiktok remains still for a moment, with an expression that’s almost sad. He hasn’t moved off the boulder yet, and he has his hand on the empty other side, where Kutie was a moment ago. Kutie’s not sure if he did something wrong. He probably ruined the moment, but…

“Yeah. We can do that now.”

They drive back to Funkytown with a weirdly heavy mood sitting on them. Kutie knows it’s his fault, but he doesn’t know how to fix it. They make it all the way back to Kutie’s place, and Tiktok lets Kutie off first. 

He walks in through the doors and groans when he sees Dust sitting in the middle of the shop in a lawn chair decorated with pink flamingos that he brought from his own place. 

“You’re back before curfew,” Dust says solemnly. “That’s good. I won’t have to tell on you.”

“Thanks,” Kutie says, pushing past him but unfortunately not managing to knock into the chair too hard. “You can leave now.”

“Hi, Tiktok,” Dust says. “How was the date? You two are back earlier than I was expecting, you know.” 

“Hi Dust,” Tiktok says.

Kutie reaches the motorcycle and starts to lead it out of the shop. “Dust. Get out.”

“I was working on a poem full of innuendoes,” Dust continues, still not leaving. “It’s really good so far. ‘You turn me on like a machine, Electric motorcycle queen’ — even though it runs on gas—”

“Seriously, you don’t need to be here anymore,” Kutie says. 

“Oh,” Dust exclaims when he finally looks behind him. “You’re giving it to your boyfriend. I knew it. I fucking knew that’s what you’d end up doing.”

“It’s a trade,” Kutie insists. “Go away.”

“Oh, so you’re giving him that and you’re getting… what? Is it like a dowry kind of thing? Do I need to get fitted for a suit? Jeez, you’re moving faster than I thought.”

For fuck’s sake.

Dust has an infuriatingly smug look on his face. It’s incredible how he and Kutie technically have the same face and yet Kutie can never make himself look as punchable as Dust. Truly remarkable. Kutie pushes the motorcycle farther and it’s barely in Tiktok’s reach when he lets go, whirls around, and stomps over to Dust.

Dust’s smile doesn’t go away. If anything, he looks even more delighted that Kutie’s about to knock his teeth in. But right as Kutie grabs at his chair to dump him onto the ground, Dust erupts in a miniature whirlwind of brightly colored sand. Kutie flinches back and squints his eyes shut. 

“Be good! Love you! Make sure you’re using that protection Steve got for you!” Dust cackles before he’s gone, along with his dumb flamingo chair.

As soon as the sand sounds like it’s settled, Kutie sighs. He looks back at Tiktok with an apology ready, but Tiktok just smiles back at him. 

“Brothers, right?”


End file.
